Silverman’s latest TV ad focuses on Leggett

Friday, Sept. 1, 2006

Montgomery County Councilman Steven A. Silverman’s latest tack in the county executive race is a new TV ad in which he spends half his air time talking about his opponent in the Democratic primary, Isiah Leggett — even closing by asserting he is a ‘‘a good guy with bad ideas.”

Silverman (D) began running his new ad this week, trying to distinguish himself from his former council colleague, who is often on the same side of the issues and regarded as one of the county’s most respected politicians.

In earlier ads, Silverman pitched himself to voters as a decisive leader committed to cutting traffic congestion and increasing affordable housing. That ad mentioned no other candidate.

But the new ad replaces his voice with a narrator’s and focuses as much on Leggett as Silverman.

With less than two weeks before the Sept. 12 campaign, Silverman’s new ad takes risks — that could backfire — by turning attention to his opponent.

In praising Leggett, the ad seems to acknowledge that negative messages can alienate voters. It is genteel compared to some TV ads that former delegate Rushern L. Baker III (D) is running against incumbent Jack B. Johnson (D) in the Prince George’s Democratic primary for county executive.

Leggett, a councilman from 1986 until 2002 who then served two years as state Democratic Party chairman, ‘‘has been someone who has been able to succeed without antagonizing anyone, so his negatives are extremely negligible,” said pollster Keith Haller, president of Potomac, Inc. ‘‘That’s tough to pull off for somebody who has been in the spotlight among so many issues and so many constituencies.”

The new ad says Silverman will ‘‘make sure the Purple Line from Bethesda to College Park gets built” and ‘‘he’ll limit and manage growth, concentrate housing around Metros, and avoid sprawl.”

Then it adds criticism of his opponent: ‘‘Ike Leggett voted on the council against the Purple Line ... to ease restrictions on development and he favors a massive construction project to build entire neighborhoods of workforce housing.”

‘‘This ad is truthful about Ike Leggett’s record and his positions,” Silverman contends.

Leggett, who has not yet aired TV ads, says Silverman has mischaracterized his record by taking votes and positions out of context.

Leggett said he did not vote for the Purple Line when he was on the council because it was ‘‘a concept” without enough detail.

But Leggett did not fire back at Silverman over the issue Wednesday night when Silverman raised it during a forum at Garrett Park’s Town Hall.

Leggett used his time instead to tell the audience that he wants to reinstate development impact tests that the council eliminated in 2003. He said that vote left the county without measures that put brakes on development if neighborhoods cannot handle it.

Asked why he did not rebut Silverman’s comments on the Purple Line, Leggett said the event was not meant to be a debate.

‘‘We will make sure that our message gets out and we will respond to any inaccuracies,” he said.

Leggett’s recent campaign finance report showed that he has raised far less than the $1.9 million Silverman has, but they both have roughly $500,000 on hand.

Silverman said harder-hitting TV ads are not in the works.

‘‘I don’t think the truth backfires and I’ll continue to welcome debating him,” Silverman said.

Regarding Leggett’s record, Silverman said his opponent should defend his positions rather than question Silverman’s integrity.

‘‘Ike hasn’t run for office realistically in 20 years. He had one election; the rest have been coronations,” Silverman said Monday.

‘‘I’m not questioning his integrity — that’s not my style,” Leggett said Tuesday.

‘‘I do question some of the tactics used,” Leggett said, adding, ‘‘We’re running a positive campaign for county executive.

‘‘People generally get coronated because they’ve done an outstanding job.”